Unit 2 Communicative Principles and Taskbased Language Teaching

Unit 2 Communicative Principles and Task-based Language Teaching

Before we begin, let’s learn these important terms: • • • Teaching methodology=teaching pedagogy CLT= Communicative Language Teaching TBLT= Task-based Language Teaching PPP= Presentation, Practice and Production Five-step teaching method= revision, presentation, practice, production and consolidation

Aims of the unit • • After learning the unit, you should be able to answer the following questions: 1. How is language learned in classrooms different from language used in real life? 2. What is communicative competence? 3. What are the implications of CLT to teaching and learning? 4. What are the main features of communicative activities? 5. What is Task-based Language Teaching? 6. How is Task-based Language Teaching different from PPP? 7. Are there limitations of CLT and TBLT?

If you are a teacher, how can you teach the following sentence to your students? • Have you had your lunch?

• The traditional teaching steps: • Step 1 Teacher: Read the sentence, and then get the students to read the sentence after the teacher. • Step 2 Teacher: Explain the meaning and translate the sentence into Chinese. • Step 3 Teacher: Explain the grammatical structure or rules and tell the students to be clear and remember the tense used in the sentence: The present perfect tense, and the formation of this kind of tense (have + p. p), and the form of question and negation (Have/has+ subj. ; Subj. + have/ has + not), and their abbreviation: haven’t/hasn’t. • Step 4 Teacher: give more examples, such as: • Have you had your breakfast? • Answer: Yes, I have / No, I haven’t • Step 5 Students: do pattern drills--read the examples aloud again and again. • Step 6 Students: Do some written exercises.

• In this way, the structure of the sentence will be learned and remembered, and some of the students may be able to compose grammatically correct sentences, e. g. • Have you had your supper? • Yes, I have. /No I haven’t.

• But when two Chinese people meet in real life, Xiao Li says to Lao Wang: • Have you had your lunch?

• Li means (function): • A question: ask if Wang has eaten the meal or not. • Greeting: Hello. • Invitation: Invite Wang to a meal (Come, it’s my treat) • Suggestion: You should have your lunch.

• For Chinese, it’s a usual informal greeting, and it has the same function as “Hello”. And whether the answer is “yes” or “no”, it’s also a greeting. • But for English, it often means an invitation (Are you inviting me? ) or a formal question (Why do you ask me such a personal question? ). He will feel confused if the Chinese moves away without waiting for the answer.

• So in communication, a certain sentence can be understood very differently in different situations. • For students, knowing how to make correct sentences is only one part of language learning. In real communication, its functional value can be more important. Students have to use language in real communication so as to build up the relationship between the communicative functions and the sentence structure.

What are the differences between language used in real life and traditional language teaching pedagogy? • Task 1 • Do Task 1 in groups of four and fill in the blank in your textbooks.

2. 1 Language use in real life vs. taditional pedagogy How is language used/taught ? In real life In classroom Through listening and imitating Through making mistakes and correcting them Through listening, reading, teacher’s explanation, drills, exercises, practice What parts Sounds, words, sentences, of language grammar (Forms) are listening speaking, reading used/taught and writing(all skills) ? Forms: Sounds, words, sentences, grammar Some skills: listening and writing How to pass exams.

Differences between real life learning and traditional pedagogy : • • Real life learning focuses on: ● Communicative functions ● All skills ● Certain context Traditional pedagogy focuses on: ● focus on form rather than on functions ● focus on one or two skills and ignore the others • ● Isolate language from context

• We are not teaching English, but we are teaching about English. • This seems to result in the phenomenon of “dumb English” in China’s English teaching.

• One possible solution to bridge the gap between classroom language teaching and real life use is the adoption of communicative language teaching ( CLT). • The goal of CLT is to develop students’ communicative competence.

2. 2 What is communicative competence?

Task 2 Do the task and answer: • What does the sentence “Why don’t you close the door? ” mean in different situations? • 1. a real question: to ask about the reason. • 2. a command: a teacher order his student to close the door. • 3. a complaint: a wife is complaining to her husband who always leaves the door open.

Task 3 write as many sentences as you can to suggest that someone buy a black overcoat. • • • Possible sentences: You should buy a black overcoat. Have you thought about buying a black overcoat? I think you should buy a black overcoat Don’t you think it’s a good idea to buy a black overcoat You’d better buy a black overcoat Why don’t you buy a black overcoat I suggest that you buy a black overcoat If I were you, I would buy a black overcoat

• What implications can you draw from these tasks regarding language teaching? • From the above tasks we can see that one language form may express a number of communicative functions and one communicative function can also be expressed by a variety of language forms. • So Communicative Competence should include not only the form of language, but also what to say to whom and how to say it appropriately in any given situation.

• Hedge’s five components of communicative competence: • Linguistic competence 语言能力 • Pragmatic competence 语用能力 • Discourse competence 语篇能力 • Strategic competence 交际策略 • Fluency 流利度 (Hedge 2000)

• In general, communicative competence includes: the knowledge about language and the knowledge about how to use the language appropriately in real communication situations. • In brief, communicative competence includes knowledge of what to say, when, how, where, and to whom.

2. 3 Implications for teaching and learning: • Teaching must enable learners to grasp the five components of communicative competence, but not just the linguistic competence. (see Key to Task 5)

2. 4 principles of communicative language teaching (CLT) • 1. communication principle (have a purpose to communicate) • 2. task principle (have a desire to use language) • 3. meaningfulness principle (have meaning to support learning process and encourage learners) (Richards and Rodgers 1986)

2. 5 CLT and teaching of language skills • In CLT, the teaching of language skills should include: • language content (to incorporate functions), • learning process (cognitive style and information processing) • Product (language skills)

2. 6 Some main features of communicative activities (Ellis 1990): The six criteria notes 1. Communictive purpose A need to know something. ---’an information gap’ 2. Communicative desire A need to do something 3. Content, not form Concentrate on what to do and what to say in the activity, not how to say certain forms. 4. Variety of language Students are free to use all kinds of language forms and skills, not just certain forms given by teacher. 5. No teacher intervention Students work by themselves. 6. No materials control Students make use of materials

Do Task 8: Study the 4 activities according to the 6 criterion.